Mars (Page 20)

The Phoenix lander has found ice on Mars. Astronomers identify it as ice because some of it that was unearthed in a trench dug by the lander disappeared 4 days later, meaning it melted or vaporized. NASA thinks that water is “locked up” in a layer of permafrost just under the surface of Mars.

BBC News quotes NASA’s Peter Smith as saying, “It must be ice. These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days?that is perfect evidence that it’s ice?There had been some question whether the bright material was salt. Salt can’t do that.” But is it WATER ice??the kind that can support life (either Martian or human, should we eventually set up a colony there).

Stay tuned.
read more

…and this means WATER! – As we’ve written about before, the big problem with colonizing Mars is finding water on the red planet. Now NASA’s new Martian landing craft the Phoenix has touched down on a large patch of ice!

BBC News reports that the lander’s descent actually blew away a layer of dirt, exposing the ice.

No matter how far and wide you explore, you’ll never find a website with better news and more extraordinary radio shows than this one! Show us how much you love us?and HAVE FUN at the same time: join us at our FIRST Dreamland Festival!

Art credit: NASA

NOTE: This news story, previously published on our old site, will have any links removed.read more

Listen to this week’s Dreamland for new insights – An unusual image was taken by the Mars Rover Spirit last November. The fact that it appears to be a figure of some sort is being dismissed by planetologists as an example ofpareidolia, the human tendency to unconsciously constructapparent human images out of random forms that suggest them. It’s quite small, just a few feet from Spirit, but it is apowerful reminder of how littlewe actually know about Mars, and the dismissive reaction inthe scientificblogosphereis a warning that,if we don’t keep an open mind about the red planet’sanomalies, we are never going to understand.read more

The controversy about life on Mars continues, but finding water would provide strong evidence that bacterial life exists there. Now a glacier that is thousands of years old has been spotted on the planet. Mars and Earth have a “close encounter” about every 26 months, and this always coincides with a wave of UFO sightings! Mars was close to Earth on December 18, at 8:45 p.m. Pacific time.
read more